The Times newspaper publisher News International has optimised home delivery routes by 16% using advanced routing and scheduling software from Paragon Software Systems. Paragon’s combined Territory and Routing Optimiser solution is giving a boost to News International’s direct-to-consumer routes by helping the planning team to cluster deliveries and shorten routes. This routing improvement means that fewer vehicles are necessary, which consequently reduces both the cost and carbon footprint of the operation.
The company selected the software to create optimised delivery territories within the M25 corridor, enabling The Times to reach subscribers by 7am every day. The new approach allows the fleet of owner-drivers to gain greater knowledge of their delivery territory, with greater density of drops along shorter delivery routes.
"Territory Optimiser is a good addition to the Paragon routing and scheduling software which we already use for our retail store deliveries. By using the software, we have achieved a significant 16% reduction in the number of routes. Combining Territory Optimiser output with driver expertise and feedback has allowed us to unlock significant benefits. Each of our direct-to-consumer drivers makes up to 180 drops a day and with this additional planning tool, we can keep the deliveries clustered tightly and the routes short. This enables the drivers to learn their routes and improves delivery efficiency as they become more familiar with their own territory," says Darren Barker, Head of Logistics Development at News International.
Nicola Dobson, the company’s Operations System Manager, adds: "The software also enables us to manage the workload balance among the drivers. This a great benefit for them as they get to know their delivery areas intimately and we can add new consumers to their territories as necessary. With the delivery territories it is so much easier than with traditional straight routes that can end a long way from where the driver started out."
Commenting on how easy the software is to use Nicola Dobson says: "Our planners are familiar with Paragon for routing, so they soon learnt how to use Territory Optimiser to create the direct to consumer territories. It is very intuitive, plus the Paragon support team was at hand to help us."
ABOUT
Paragon Software Systems is a market leader in transport optimisation with over 2,300 routing and scheduling systems installed in more than 750 client sites in 45 countries. Paragon helps companies reduce transport costs by up to 20 per cent through more efficient deployment of vehicles and drivers. Headquartered in Dorking, UK and with US offices in Dallas, Paragon is a respected pioneer in routing and scheduling with over 30 years of know-how.
Paragon is employed by transport operations ranging from just 10 vehicles at a single site to hundreds of vehicles operating from several sites. The system is used for routing and scheduling optimisation; managing transport resources; strategic planning; scheduling home deliveries continuously as orders are being confirmed; and managing the execution of the transport plan in real time using vehicle tracking technology.
Paragon assists many leading companies with their logistics including ASDA, Royal Mail Group, Harrods, Sainsbury’s, AB Agri, CEVA Logistics, Wincanton, DHL Exel, Norbert Dentressangle, Linde, Fuller’s, John Lewis, Tesco, Martin-Brower, Raleigh and many others.
